Houbara Bustard - Relation With Humans

Relation With Humans

The Houbara Bustard is widely prized in Arabia as a quarry for falconers, particularly because its meat is valued an aphrodisiac (though according to one doctor it is instead a diuretic). Widespread hunting and loss of habitat have greatly reduced numbers. The allocation of hunting rights led to a diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

A major conservation and breeding project is based near Agadir, Morocco and Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan. The International Foundation for Conservation and Development of Wildlife is a not-for-profit foundation funded by Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The project breeds Houbaras using artificial insemination, and the offspring are released to the wild. A similar project, with The National Avian Research Centre of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation, under the auspices of the royal families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is under way in the UAE.

In Pakistan, the Houbara Bustard is regarded as the provincial bird of Balochistan (Pakistan). While falconers are reportedly rarely seen in Pakistan anymore because of the poor security situation, Houbaras continue to be hunted each year in Pakistan with 25 permits by the government issued for the 2011-12 hunting season, each permit allowing one hundred birds to be hunted by the permit holder. Most of these permits have gone to royalty, rulers and influential commoners from Arab states such as Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

A team of researchers found that, from 1998 to 2001, Houbara numbers dropped 63% in China, 60% in Kazakhstan, and 50% in Oman.